The first Friday in October found parents, grandparents, and guardians galore flocking to the multipurpose room at Williston Elementary School for the first ceremony of the 2009-10 school year: honoring the September 2009 Students of the Month.

Classroom teachers tap students in one of three categories – academics, most improved and citizenship – and each student receives a certificate acknowledging his/her accomplishments which garnered that particular award.

The imminent closing of Alachua General Hospital has some Levy County officials worried.

“I’m very concerned about the time it’s going to take to get a patient in. It’s going to make us wait longer to get a bed,” Trish Seibold, Levy County Emergency Management Services director, said in a phone interview on Oct. 23.

Levy County EMS transports about 7,000 patients a year to emergency rooms located in several counties — with Alachua county hospitals being the most frequented, according to Seibold.

It is expensive to raise your little bundle of joy, but the state of Florida has a program that helps save a pile of money.

Voluntary Prekindergarten, commonly referred to as VPK, is a program funded by the state that gives four-year-olds free schooling, said Tonya Hiers, the program and client services manager for Dixie County, Gilchrist County and Levy County at the Early Learning Coalition of the Nature Coast. The coalition disburses the money and regulates the program.

The racing silks were flying. The horses were bridled and ready. The guests were meandering over the grounds. It was a clear night Saturday as Black Prong Equestrian Center welcomed hundreds of Haven Hospice supporters to Fall at the Derby.

The autumn event is one of two major fund-raisers hosted by Haven Hospice annually, but the emphasis is always on “fun” rather than “fund.”

School Board of Levy County Superintendent Bob Hastings said on Tuesday that the school district’s full-time enrollment decreased from last year by an estimated 96 students, raising concerns about a major source of revenue for the district.

Speaking at the school board’s meeting, Hastings said that the loss of students would directly impact the amount of fund received by the state. The district also lost about 150 students from the previous school year.